10 Famous People and the Hobbies That Fire Them Up

You know why you do it — swim that lap, knit that cap or host that book club. With everything going on in your life, you want to make sure you take time to live your best life. But what about the jetsetters, tastemakers and literal rock stars who seemingly live the dream 24/7? Why do they pursue hobbies? For the same reasons you swim that lap. For fun, for fuel, for a challenge.

Here’s a look at 10 present-day notables, and the hobbies they’re passionate about.

1. Oprah Winfrey: Taking baths

Most people think of bathing as hygiene, not a hobby, but most people are not Winfrey, 64. “I love creating bathing experiences—bath gels, bubbles, crystals, salts, lavender milks,” the media mogul toldHarper’s Bazaar in 2012. On The Late Late Show this year, she revealed to host James Corden that she’s so serious about baths that she has a bathtub that was “carved to the shape of my body.”

2. Ryan Gosling: Knitting

In 2013, the Oscar-nominated actor (La La Land, Half Nelson) toldGQ Australia that he picked up the hobby while shooting a knitting-related scene on the 2007 film, Lars and the Real Girl. “It was one of the most relaxing days of my life,” Gosling, 37, told the magazine. “If I had to design my perfect day, that would be it. And you get something out of it at the end. You get a nice present. For someone who wants an oddly shaped, off-putting scarf.”

3. Ann Curry: Photography

Taking photos, the TV journalist, 62, wrote for Oprah.com, “had always been on the top of my ‘shoulda coulda woulda’ list.” But it wasn’t until a doctor all but ordered the then-Today Show anchor to take some time for herself that she pursued the passion with a passion. She’s since gone on to exhibit her work.

4. Leonardo DiCaprio: Beach volleyball

According an accounting by New York magazine’s Website, The Cut, the 43-year-old Oscar-winner (The Revenant) spent a good bit of time this summer spiking, digging and setting with famous pals Scott Eastwood, Ansel Elgort and Jamie Foxx on beaches of Malibu and the Mediterranean.

5. Grandmaster Flash: Coffee mugs

Yes, coffee mugs. As noted by the BBC, the hip-hop innovator, 60, scoops up mugs as he travels the world. Given the length and scope of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s career, the deejay had made a lot of stops — and, as a result, has collected a lot of mugs, about 5,000. He’s said to keep the collection in a secure, temperature-controlled room.

6. Cuba Gooding Jr.: Hockey

With the likes of Kiefer Sutherland, and Steve Carell lacing up, it’s probably not hard to find a pick-up hockey game in Hollywood. The Oscar-winning Gooding, 50, however, takes passion for the ice to the next level: He once had a backyard rink. “Every film I sneak out and find a rink and skate with the locals,” Gooding said in People.

7. Taylor Swift: Arts and crafts — all of them, basically

The Grammy-winning pop star, 28, is so crafty that, as Bustle once observed, “she probably has a charge card to [the fabric chain, Joann].” Per photographic evidence on social media, the “Style” singer makes (in no particular order): snow globes, jam, needlepoint keepsakes and apple pie. Most of these wares were gifts for her friend and collaborator, singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran, so perhaps her hobby is actually making him happy.

Or: this quote: “Every film I sneak out and find a rink and skate with the locals,” Gooding said in People.

8. President George W. Bush: Painting and mountain biking

After he left the White House in 2009, the former president was feeling “antsy.” So, at age 66, the “art-agnostic” took up painting. (The New Yorkercalled the “level of art” in Bush’s 2017 published collection of portraits of war veterans “astonishingly high.”) Bush, now 72, is also an avid mountain-biker.

9. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Falconry

“I just was born with the interest,” the environmentalist/activist, 64, said, according to PetPlace. “I raised homing pigeons, ducks and pheasant since I was 11, and I started handling red-tailed hawks when I was 12 years old.” He pursued falconry studies at boarding school, and has since gone onto become a licensed bird rehabilitator in New York state.

10. Susan Sarandon: Table tennis

The Oscar-winning actress, 71, not only starred in a 2014 indie comedy called Ping Pong Summer, she helped launch a social-club chain for table-tennis enthusiasts, SPiN. Though shesays she’s not very good at the game, she’s a fan: “It is really good for your mind,” she told London’s Guardian. “It is one of the few sports that you can play until you die.”